The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Start with Art: Lattice and Awning by Arthur Garfield Dove, as an inspiration for a Travel Capsule Wardrobe

August 21, 2023

An Unconventional Woman That's how she thinks of herself. She knows that she has been described as such, more than a few times! And that's when people are being nice...

Now that she's retired, she is embracing her uniqueness, starting with her wardrobe, but branching out in all kinds of ways...

She's the person who goes into the city for a long weekend when the Natural History Museum gets a new exhibit of fossils...

She attends all of the opera world premiers, no matter HOW weird the music is reputed to be. If it's unusual, she figures she has a good chance of having fun!

She is beloved as a supporter of new artists and musicians. She will try any dish in any new restaurant. It's just the ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Brown, Green and Ivory: Start with Art – The Flower Arranger by Mary Brandish Titcomb

July 12, 2023

She loves this painting - it's what she does, in a way...

So when she travels - which is often - she uses these colors as her palette for assembling her travel capsule wardrobe:

Another Gala Opening Night She designs the flowers that lurk around on all of the occasional tables, grace all of the dining tables, and fill in the odd spaces around the museum...

She doesn't actually arrange the flowers - the local florists take care of that...

But she has spent the last 2 or 3 months designing the arrangements - making sure to use flowers and plants that are in some way symbolically associated with the theme of the current fete...

For example - her current work is at an exhibit of Grecian art, ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Brown and Ivory: Start with Art – The Guitar by Juan Gris

July 10, 2023

Her favorite painting...

And her easy, classic color palette:

A Weekend Trip, For Falling in Love "If you don't get a much better guitar, you're not really going to progress a lot more. You're doing so well; I'd like to see you get a really good instrument..."

"If you go into the city, I can arrange for you to go the really GOOD guitar makers, and play as many instruments as you want."

The print tee has matching pants, a scarf, and a camp shirt...

"You'll know when you find the right one..."

So she's going away for the weekend, to do all of the usual visitor things - dine, sightsee, maybe a museum or two...

But mostly to play guitars, and to find one with which she falls in ... View the Post

Three Capsule Wardrobes: First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – July 2023

July 5, 2023

Our heroines are filling in gaps and rescuing wardrobe orphans this month!

Let's start with our fair and blond heroine... (at least that's how I imagine her - your may see her differently!)

When we left our heroine last month, this was her 20-piece capsule wardrobe:

Our heroine has been thinking for a while that she is overdue to add some yellow to her wardrobe! It's worth mentioning that you can change your color palette if you find that you've included an accent color that doesn't feel right to you... but our heroine is going to give yellow a try!

And she doesn't have a pair of shorts! She's not one to wear shorts frequently, but a whimsical pair might be useful for her. So she shops, and this is what ... View the Post

A Rosy Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Untitled by Peter Doig

June 19, 2023

Our heroine from Friday isn't the only person attending the Pollinator Conference, of course!

I can't find a title for this painting!

Lovely colors....

Our 2nd heroine is dressing in similar colors to her friend from Friday, but she's opting for brown rather than beige...

She doesn't think to find insect-themed jewelry, but she doesn't miss the chance to wear her favorite floral skirt.

her floral skirt has a matching print blouse available...

She likes to think that her wardrobe combines the rich, life-giving warmth of soil, along with its glorious floral products!

Our heroines love to pack this way - once you've arrived, all you have to do is unpack, and then be alert to what is ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Beige with Warm Accents – Start with a Scarf: The Curiosity Cabinet Silk Scarf by Emily Carter

June 16, 2023

The Annual Pollinators Study Conference

It's just a couple of days - mostly scientists who work in VERY specialized fields, talking about bugs! How to count them, how to help them thrive, how to encourage new and different insects to step into the void of dying populations...

She's a bit of a star in this world!

She's spearheading the information campaign about the possibility of ants as pollinators - it's not something that will be a worldwide solution, but in small areas it may work...

Her silk scarf is amazing - this designer does scarves from paintings...

When she decided to attend the conference (as if she serious might miss it!), she chose her favorite scarf as the theme for her wardrobe; ... View the Post

3 Capsule Wardrobes: Second Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – June 2023

June 5, 2023

I can't quite get used to the idea that it's already June! Time will pass, regardless of our ability to keep up...

As I've quickly learned, this wardrobe, as with all of them, is pretty well-balanced in terms of functionality:

And arranging this particular wardrobe by color is sort of fun, but again doesn't show any big gaps or problems!

So our heroine just went shopping for some useful summer garments!

Our heroine truly feels that she is comfortably prepared for most things she needs to do - what a nice way to feel about one's wardrobe!

I love the richness of these accessories!

 

When our heroine gets home, she gets onto Skype with a couple of friends to show them her new ... View the Post

Start with Art: Cherry Branch by Bror Lindh

May 17, 2023

I've never heard of Bror Lindh - what fun to find new (to me) artists!

Our heroine chose to include the darker green of the grass under the tree, rather than the more yellowish green out in the sunlight. Good move, I would say!

Garden Tour Weekend A group of her friends are going along - but the weather is expected to be unseasonably cool! Annoying, but not something that will keep them from attending...

They've been assured that there will be NO walking in grass or soil, so they can just wear comfortable shoes without worrying about bringing waterproof boots with them! (they have been on tours that felt more like trekking through the deep forest...)

She wants to be warm, but also have a variety of ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Leshy by Ilona Tambor

December 14, 2022

There are six different "Leshy" scarves...

It Happens Every Year, at This Time... Everybody who celebrates one of the "Winter Solstice" traditional holidays starts complaining that we should celebrate on the 21st... or that we should only decorate our trees with things that birds can eat...

And every year, at this time, there's a major academic conference somewhere that is centered around all of the forest deities and Druid-like ceremonies that are in season...

She's one of the world's authorities on Leshy, the legendary forest creature. Sometimes cruel, sometimes kind - he's pretty complicated! And he's NOT a brown bear; she's still going to wear the scarf.

For some reason, these conferences ... View the Post

Start with Art: A Peasant Woman by Edgar Degas

November 30, 2022

 

Why yes, it suits her to a T...

The Confectionary Rep...

She goes to all of those gigantic food conferences - she's responsible for over a dozen of the booths that showcase small chocolate and caramel makers...

She doesn't have to actually be IN the booths - she hires lovely staff for that! But she does get to wander around, offering samples to people, and chatting with customers who seem to be legitimately interested...

She loves dressing in "chocolate and caramel" colors, with a touch of ivory whipped cream!

One company has mentioned that they might started making chocolate-covered cherries!

She sees a beautiful red sweater in her future...

love,

Janice

p.s. ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet: Subtle Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

November 21, 2022

The Easiest Job Ever...

She arrives at the café as soon as they open - there's always a table by the windows available...

After she orders breakfast, she takes out her fresh new notebook and her favorite pen:

She eats her breakfast, stopping every now and then to note down something that she sees...

Some days, she orders a second cup of coffee, because she's going to be sitting there until about 10 a.m. Second cups of coffee aren't always "the thing" with breakfast, but she doesn't mind being different!

Around 10 or so, she pays for her breakfast, tips generously, and walks back to her hotel room...

She brushes her teeth, refreshes her sunscreen, and gets ready to go out for ... View the Post

Part 2 November 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

November 4, 2022

I think this is my favorite...

This imaginary heroine had the exceptional good luck to wander into Banana Republic to do her shopping this month!

One might say she went a bit overboard, but if she's reasonably careful, she should have some of these things for the rest of her life! (I would buy a black suede shirt...)

Everything she's purchased goes beautifully with her existing wardrobe:

And her accessories are gorgeous:

Camel and black look wonderful together, as do camel and ivory. This heroine is going to love her new pieces:

Let's look at our next scarf:

 

 

 

Today's 2nd heroine had the equally good fortune to be in J.Crew when she decided that it ... View the Post